The Allen & Wheelock Center Hammer Army percussion revolver was manufactured in rather limited quantities, with production estimated by most published arms historians at only about seven hundred guns. These estimates are based primarily upon the “serial numbers” of known surviving examples. However, for a gun with production figures so low, the survival rate of the revolvers appears relatively high, leading some to believe that the “serial numbers” were really batch or assembly numbers and do not indicate total production. In fact, many have long believed the total production was likely three to four times published estimates. The existence of at least a handful of duplicate “serial number” examples certainly supports this
No matter how many were actually produced, we do know that five hundred and thirty six Allen & Wheelock percussion revolvers were purchased by the Federal government in 1861. Many of those guns were subsequently issued to the 2nd and 3rd Michigan Volunteer Cavalry regiments (Companies A, F, and I, and I respectively) as well as the 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry’s Co. A. Since these revolvers were purchased on the open market, the guns did not go through the usual Ordnance Department procurement process. According to author and arms historian John D. McAulay’s research, 198 center hammer Army revolvers were purchased December 31, 1861, from William Read & Sons of Boston for $22 each, a $4,356 total. He noted that an additional 338 Allen revolvers were purchased during the early months of the war. He hypothesized that these guns were really Allen & Wheelock side hammer Navy percussion revolvers, rather than the center hammer Army guns, but I find this unlikely.
McAulay referenced a post-Civil War Ordnance Department inventory of 536 Allen revolvers valued at a total of $9,130.50. After subtracting the amount paid for the .44 caliber guns from William Read & Sons, the average value of the remaining guns equals only $14.13 each. This lower value is the basis for his belief that the remaining guns were the side hammer Navy guns. However, it was not uncommon for open market arms purchase prices to vary wildly depending on the source. More than likely the earlier purchases were made before the War’s real emergency was fully understood within the arms market, and by December 1861 gun retailers were likely selling the same guns for much higher prices than they had been sold for only six months earlier. McAulay noted that only one battery of the First Regiment of Massachusetts Light Artillery is known to have had any side hammer Navy revolvers, so that would only account for a handful of guns, not more than three hundred.
Additionally, the Allen “Side Hammer” design was complicated and weak with the hammer nose prone to breakage. None of these features lent themselves to military service. Until more compelling information is uncovered, I have to believe that all the government purchases were of the larger caliber and more robust center hammer Army design.
The Allen revolvers were not acquired through normal Ordnance Department contracts so they were not marked with standard sub-inspection marks or acceptance cartouches, as guns that were part of official Ordnance Department contracts were. This means that identifying a “martial” example of one of these guns relies upon finding the serial number in a list of known Allen & Wheelock .44 Army military purchases. The 4th volume of the Springfield Research Service’s “Serial Numbers of US Martial Arms” book has a small number of Allen & Wheelock Army revolver serial numbers, with sixteen guns listed that range from #8 to #325, all in the possession of the 2nd or 3rd Michigan Cavalry during 1864. Since it is likely that these numbers were reused as batch numbers, even identification by this method is problematic.
The Allen & Wheelock Army revolver was a .44 caliber, sixshot, percussion single action revolver that had a 7 ½-inch half-octagon/half-round barrel and a unique ratcheting loading lever that formed the gun’s trigger guard. The revolvers had a blued finish with color case hardened hammers and loading levers/triggerguards. The two-piece walnut grips were usually varnished but some appear to have been oil finished on some extant examples. Like most period revolvers the sights were rudimentary with a tall, “pinched” brass front sight and a notched hammer nose as the rear sight.
The guns were made in three distinct variants that help the collector to categorize and date them chronologically. The earliest guns used a complicated and fragile “hinged pawl” action. This produced a smooth action but was expensive and time consuming to produce and very difficult to repair. These guns also had the hammer mounted on the screw that secured the side plate and entered through the right side of the frame. This made disassembly very difficult. The final feature of the 1st variant revolvers was that the cones (nipples) were screwed into the cylinder from inside the chambers, a very unconventional feature.
The 2nd variant revolvers retained all the mechanical features and designs of the first but had cones (nipples) installed in the conventional fashion, from the rear of the cylinder. The 3rd variant revolvers used a pin that was cast into the right side of the frame to provide a pivot for the hammer to rotate on, while the screw securing the sideplate entered from the frame’s left side. These features made the revolver much easier to disassemble and repair. Third variant guns also utilize a simplified internal action that was cheaper and easier to produce.
The guns were normally marked in two lines on the left side of the octagonal portion of the barrel with the name, address, and patent information about the gun; however, these stampings were often quite light and as a result are usually only partially legible. Since Allen was the ultimate “cheap skate,” it was not uncommon for the company to use the same dies to mark different models of guns, even if the die did not quite fit in the space where the markings were placed. This often resulted in Allen revolvers that have letters and/or numbers missing from the name and patent information stampings because the die simply did not fit in the area where it was stamped.
It seems fairly certain that the guns were not “serial numbered” per-se but were marked on major parts with assembly numbers. The numbers were usually placed on the left side of the frame (under the grip), on the loading lever’s inner surface, on the cylinder‘s rear, the cylinder arbor pin, and inside both wooden grip panels.
The Allen & Wheelock center hammer Army pictured here is a later production, 3rd variant, revolver with the cones (nipples) installed from the cylinder’s rear and with the simplified lock work allowing the hammer to rotate on the cast frame pin, rather than the sideplate screw.
The most interesting thing about this revolver is that it may actually bear a true serial number, in addition to the usual assembly numbers. The bottom of the grip frame is numbered 2497. Typically, Allen & Wheelock Army revolvers do not have an external serial number like this, and the grips must be removed to find the frame number. The other interesting fact is that the last three digits of the serial number are found throughout the revolver like the assembly numbers usually found on these guns. This four-digit number on the bottom of the grip suggests that at least some 2,500 of these revolvers were really produced. Why Allen did not fully serial number most of the production is unclear, but it seems quite likely that many 3rd variant guns with three-digit serial numbers may really have had a fourth number that was never applied to them.
The three-digit assembly number 497 appears on the expected parts of the gun. The number is found stamped in the usual location on the frame under the left grip, on the top of the cylinder arbor pin, the rear face of the cylinder, the inner side of the loading lever (it is sometimes found under the loading lever), and on the interior of both grips; all locations it is typically encountered on these guns. The last number 7 is visible on the bottom portion of the hammer when the sideplate is Obverse view of Allen & Wheelock center hammer army revolver #2497. All photos by Tim Prince.
removed. The left flat of the octagonal barrel section shows the usual two line Allen & Wheelock marking for the period’s revolvers reading: ALLEN & WHEELOCK. WORCHESTER, MASS. U.S. / ALLEN’S PT’S. JAN. 13. DEC. 15. 1857. SEPT. 7, 1858.
Tim Prince is a full-time dealer in fine & collectible military arms from the Colonial Period through WWII. He operates College Hill Arsenal, a web-based antique arms retail site. A long time collector &
Assembly number 497 on the ratchet portion of the loading lever without the “2” at the front. One, two, or three digit assembly or “serial” numbers are common on these guns, but a four digit number as found on the butt is quite uncommon.
researcher, Tim has been a contributing author to two major book projects about Civil War era arms including The English Connection and a new book on southern retailer marked and Confederate used shotguns. Tim is also a featured Arms & Militaria appraiser on the PBS Series Antiques Roadshow.
Muzzle of the Allen & Wheelock Army showing the tall, pinched brass front sight and the five groove rifling.
Reverse of Allen & Wheelock center hammer army revolver.
Butt of Allen & Wheelock Army revolver with serial number 2497 clearly visible.